Patriot or Traitor: John Hodges in 1814Courtney C. Hobson

The burned White House, Geo. Munger, White House Historical Soc.

In the midst of war, patriotism and treason can be oddly difficult to differentiate. For John Hodges, a prominent citizen of Maryland, that line veered wildly over the course of just a few confusing weeks during the War of 1812. Our story starts in the small town of Upper Marlboro, Maryland in August 1814.

Fought between Great Britain and the United States, the War of 1812 had raged for a little more than two years. Battles occurred primarily along the US-Canadian border. However, in the spring of 1814, the British changed their strategy, beginning to lay waste to the port towns along the Chesapeake Bay, adversely affecting American commerce. On August 20, 1814, the British Army under the command of Major General Robert Ross set out on their fateful march to the primary target of Washington, D.C. After four days of marching and the defeat of American forces at the Battle of Bladensburg, the British entered Washington unimpeded. They torched the capital city, burning the White House and other public buildings on August 24, 1814.

After a brief occupation, the British marched back through southern Maryland, returning to their fleet in the Patuxent River. On August 27th, the British arrived in Upper Marlboro, the county seat of Prince George’s County, Maryland. The British had camped in the town on the night of August 23-24 on their way to Washington, D.C. As with any invading army, there were stragglers taking advantage of some of the abandoned homes of frightened residents, stealing livestock, and destroying property as they traveled.

Darnall's Chance built c. 1741-42, photo courtesy Darnall's Chance.

Some of the local citizens decided to act. One of those men was Dr. William Beanes, a prominent resident of Upper Marlboro, who had served as a surgeon during the American Revolutionary War. Beanes and other citizens captured and imprisoned some British soldiers. They asked John Hodges, whose home now operates as a museum called Darnall’s Chance, if he would take the prisoners to a nearby jail in Queen Anne’s Town, Maryland (the town and the jail no longer exist). Hodges agreed and left with the prisoners.

By this time, the British were aware of their missing soldiers. They returned to Upper Marlboro, captured Beanes and two other instigators, and threatened to reduce Upper Marlboro to ashes if their soldiers were not returned by noon the following day. Later that night Hodges returned to town where the pleas of his fellow townspeople swayed him. He determined to retrieve the prisoners and release them to the British.

Arriving back at the jail, Hodges approached Major General Robert Bowie, a former governor of Maryland then serving as the general of the local militia. Hodges convinced the general that the soldiers should be freed. Now officially in charge of the prisoner exchange, Hodges ordered one of the guards at the jail to assist him in conducting the prisoners to the rendezvous. The guard initially refused, but relented when “Hodges said every American must do his duty, without regard to danger or inconvenience.”

Beanes' grave marker, courtesy Darnall's Chance.

The next day, Hodges met with the British for the exchange. In return for their own soldiers, the British released all of their prisoners except Dr. Beanes. During their earlier encampment in Upper Marlboro, the British had stayed on the property of Dr. Beanes, whom they regarded as friendly. Beanes, the British argued, had betrayed their trust. Refusing to free him, they chose to transport this special prisoner to their next target: Baltimore.

Baltimore, at that time the third largest city in the nation, was home to many of the American privateers that terrorized British merchant ships. A star-shaped fort called Fort McHenry protected the port.

One of Beanes’ closest friends, Richard West, asked his brother-in-law, a Georgetown lawyer, named Francis Scott Key to help save Dr. Beanes. President James Madison granted permission for Key and Colonel John Stuart Skinner, the U.S. Prisoner Exchange Agent, to travel to Baltimore to parlay with the British.

On September 7, 1814, negotiations began as Key and Skinner dined as the guests of Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane, Rear Admiral George Cockburn, and Major General Robert Ross aboard the HMS Tonnant. The turning point in the negotiations came when Key presented Ross with letters from British prisoners-of-war who received kind treatment from American doctors after the Battle of Bladensburg on August 24th. After Key’s appeal, Ross agreed to release Beanes, but not immediately. During his imprisonment, Beanes had become familiar with British plans to launch a land and water attack on Baltimore. The British feared that an immediate release of Beanes would compromise their plans.

Watercolor depicting bombardment of Ft. McHenry, public domain.

Instead, Beanes, Key, and Skinner were moved to a British truce ship where they waited as the bombardment of Fort McHenry began on the morning of September 13, 1814. The bombardment continued throughout the day and night, its outcome unknown to these three prisoners. By the next morning, the smoke had cleared enough for Key to look out over the ship towards Fort McHenry. The American flag, albeit damaged, was still waving overhead, signaling to all that the Americans were still in possession of Fort McHenry.

Inspired by what he saw, Key began composing his famed lyrics. The words were set to the tune of a popular gentleman’s drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.” Key finished his song later that evening in Indian Queen Tavern in Baltimore and it was published in the American, a Baltimore newspaper, on September 20th under the title “Defence of Fort M’Henry.” As the song grew in popularity it was re-titled “The Star Spangled Banner,” which is the title we use today.

The song would not become our country’s national anthem until a proclamation by Congress on March 3, 1931. If it were not for the boisterous actions of Dr. William Beanes in Upper Marlboro, Francis Scott Key would not have been aboard a British ship in the Baltimore harbor to witness the successful defense of Fort McHenry and the star spangled banner flying overhead.

Pinkney later served as US Minister to Russia.

Shortly after the end of bombardment, Key, Skinner, and Beanes were freed, in accordance with their earlier agreement with their British captors Key returned to his work as an attorney, even later serving as a U.S. District Attorney. Ironically, Key, a little known Georgetown lawyer who was opposed to the War of 1812, is now forever associated with it. As the composer of our national anthem, Key earned a place in the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. Dr. Beanes, the incidental cause of Key’s presence in Baltimore, quietly spent the remainder of his life in Upper Marlboro.

John Hodges’ fate would not be so happy.

Despite Hodges life-saving actions, in 1815 he would be charged with high treason by the Federal Government of the United States. The charge was specifically for “delivering up prisoners to the enemy.” William Pinkney, who had served as the United States' Attorney General under James Madison, undertook to defend Hodges. A major during the War of 1812, Pinkney himself had been wounded during the Battle of Bladensburg.

Pinkney’s impassioned defense of Hodges’ actions during a confused time of war won Hodges an acquittal. Pinkney was so convincing that the jury did not even leave the jury box to deliberate. To date, John Hodges is the only known person to be tried for treason during the War of 1812.

Courtney C. Hobson is a docent at Darnall’s Chance House Museum in Upper Marlboro, MD. The house is located near the gravesite of Dr. William Beanes. She received her undergraduate degree in history from Bowie State University, the oldest historically black college in Maryland. She is currently in the Historical Studies graduate program at University of Maryland, Baltimore County.